BRAIN Initiative: Production and distribution facilities for brain cell type-specific access reagents (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) | RFA MH 25 105

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA MH 25 105

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting applications under the BRAIN Initiative for a cooperative agreement (U24; clinical trial not allowed) focused on building and operating scaled production and distribution facilities for brain cell type-specific access reagents. The central goal is to make powerful, standardized tools broadly available to the neuroscience community, so researchers can reliably target, label, manipulate, or otherwise gain experimental access to specific brain cell types across many experimental settings. This opportunity sits within the BRAIN Initiative Armamentarium for Brain Cell Access transformative project, which is aimed at accelerating the development and widespread use of next-generation access technologies.

This NOFO specifically emphasizes infrastructure and operations: facilities that can manufacture, quality-control, package, and distribute reagents at scale, rather than inventing entirely new tools from scratch. The reagents to be produced and distributed are those that have already been designed and validated through other NOFOs within the same Armamentarium project. In other words, this program is meant to take proven, high-value tools and turn them into consistently produced, easy-to-obtain resources that a broad and diverse set of neuroscientists can use. NIH highlights the importance of broad availability, suggesting a strong expectation that the supported facilities will serve the wider research community, not just a single lab or narrow consortium.

The types of reagents called out include gene transfer, gene regulation, and genome engineering reagents. In practice, that points to tools such as viral vectors and other delivery systems for introducing genetic material, constructs that enable cell type-specific control of gene expression, and genome editing-related components that can be used to modify or interrogate genes in targeted neural populations. A notable emphasis is placed on usability across both genetically tractable systems (where transgenic strategies are routine) and less tractable systems. The NOFO explicitly mentions primates and human tissue as relevant contexts, reflecting an interest in resources that can support future translational directions and help bridge the gap between foundational neuroscience and eventual clinical relevance, even though this particular funding opportunity does not allow clinical trials.

Administratively, the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically means NIH program staff will have substantial involvement during the project period compared with a standard research project grant. Applicants should expect a more collaborative, milestone- and deliverable-oriented relationship with NIH, consistent with the idea of operating a service-like facility that produces and disseminates community resources. The opportunity is listed as discretionary funding, and it carries the NIH identifiers RFA MH 25 105 and multiple CFDA numbers (93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867), indicating participation across NIH components and alignment with several NIH assistance listings.

Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and government entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; Native American tribal organizations other than federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other types of organizations. The NOFO also highlights additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible agencies of the federal government, regional organizations, Indian/Native American Tribal Governments other than federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions. At the same time, non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities are not eligible to apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible. However, foreign components (as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement) are allowed, which generally means certain parts of the work can be conducted outside the U.S. under specific NIH rules, even though the applicant organization itself must be domestic.

The opportunity was created on 2024-02-20 and lists an original closing date of 2026-07-01. The public summary does not specify an award ceiling or the expected number of awards in the provided fields, so applicants would typically confirm budget expectations, scope, and any cap or recommended funding level in the full NOFO text and related NIH guidance. Overall, the program is best understood as an effort to professionalize and scale the supply chain for validated brain cell type-specific access tools, ensuring that cutting-edge reagents developed under the BRAIN Armamentarium pipeline can be produced reliably and distributed widely to accelerate neuroscience research across diverse model systems, including those most relevant to translational progress.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BRAIN Initiative: Production and distribution facilities for brain cell type-specific access reagents (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.173, 93.213, 93.242, 93.273, 93.279, 93.286, 93.853, 93.865, 93.866, 93.867.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-02-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-07-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA MH 25 105

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